Kirin aims to make Myanmar Beer a regional brand

After taking over the majority of Myanmar’s largest beer company, Myanmar Brewery, Japanese beverages giant Kirin is planning to market the Myanmar Beer brand regionally, if not internationally, a Yangon news conference heard last week.

The plan was unveiled following Kirin Holding’s $560-million acquisition of Singapore-listed Fraser and Neave’s 55-per cent stake in Myanmar Brewery, owned by military-run conglomerate Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd, on August 19.

“We have a very strong addition to our business foundation in Southeast Asia,” said Keisuke Nishimura, Kirin’s senior executive officer. “And there is much room for further expansion in Myanmar’s beer market.”

Kirin in Myanmar joins other international brands such as Heineken and Carlsberg, which both have set up local brewing facilities to prepare for further opening of the previously closed Southeast Asian economy.

Apart from its main brands, Carlsberg has introduced its more mainstream Yoma and Tuborg brands and Heineken launched Regal Seven beer, kicking off a previously unseen local level of competition.

Hiroshi Fujikawa, the managing director of Kirin Holdings Singapore, said that beer consumption is usually correlated to economic growth – with rising GDP per capita comes more beer consumption. This is happening throughout most of Southeast Asia, which is why Kirin wants to use its international focus to bring Myanmar Beer to other markets in the region and beyond.

While Kirin’s revenue historically came entirely from Japan, it has been expanding abroad over the past years, with about 30 per cent of the firm’s sales and 41 per cent of its total profits last year coming from overseas. In Southeast Asia, Kirin also has stakes in San Miguel Brewery in the Philippines, as well as in a Vietnamese soft drinks manufacturer.

After taking over the majority of Myanmar’s largest beer company, Myanmar Brewery, Japanese beverages giant Kirin is planning to market the Myanmar Beer brand regionally, if not internationally, a Yangon news conference heard last week.

The plan was unveiled following Kirin Holding’s $560-million acquisition of Singapore-listed Fraser and Neave’s 55-per cent stake in Myanmar Brewery, owned by military-run conglomerate Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd, on August 19.

“We have a very strong addition to our business foundation in Southeast Asia,” said Keisuke Nishimura, Kirin’s senior executive officer. “And there is much room for further expansion in Myanmar’s beer market.”

Kirin in Myanmar joins other international brands such as Heineken and Carlsberg, which both have set up local brewing facilities to prepare for further opening of the previously closed Southeast Asian economy.

Apart from its main brands, Carlsberg has introduced its more mainstream Yoma and Tuborg brands and Heineken launched Regal Seven beer, kicking off a previously unseen local level of competition.

Hiroshi Fujikawa, the managing director of Kirin Holdings Singapore, said that beer consumption is usually correlated to economic growth – with rising GDP per capita comes more beer consumption. This is happening throughout most of Southeast Asia, which is why Kirin wants to use its international focus to bring Myanmar Beer to other markets in the region and beyond.

While Kirin’s revenue historically came entirely from Japan, it has been expanding abroad over the past years, with about 30 per cent of the firm’s sales and 41 per cent of its total profits last year coming from overseas. In Southeast Asia, Kirin also has stakes in San Miguel Brewery in the Philippines, as well as in a Vietnamese soft drinks manufacturer.